


His Ray of Sunshine

by raulism



Series: Frederick and Charlie [1]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Daddy!Chilton, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Happy Chilton, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 02:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7295905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raulism/pseuds/raulism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr request: Chilton adopts a little girl, who quickly charms the BSHCI staff</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Ray of Sunshine

He hadn’t told anyone. Not his secretary, not his colleagues, not any of his almost-friends in the FBI. No one. She was his little secret, his little ray of sunshine. The only thing that got him out of bed most days and definitely the only thing that could make him smile anymore.

Not that anyone had noticed either. They all hated him. He knew that, didn’t try to deny it, to himself or anyone else.

If they didn’t avoid him like the plague, it would have been so easy to spot. The spaghetti stain on his normally spotless suit jacket. The sliver of his princess temporary tattoo that just peeked out from his sleeve when he reached for something. The mismatched socks because he could no longer turn on his bedroom light as he dressed.

Before, he would have cared. He would have been incredibly annoyed that no one thought to ask him if he was alright as the dark circles under his eyes grew deeper. But not anymore. Nothing mattered to him anymore, except the perfect little girl that called him ‘Daddy.’

\------------

“What do you mean you can’t watch her today?” He was whispering into the phone as Charlie ate her breakfast at the table. She had wanted eggs and peas today, an odd combination but who was he to judge? He’d been almost delirious in his happiness when she had declared that she didn’t want to eat meat, ‘like her daddy.’

“No, no, of course. I understand. You should be there for your mother.” Sighing as he hung up with his normal daycare sitter, he ran his hands over his face.

What should he do? What _could_ he do? He had no friends, no family, no one he could call. But a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane was the absolute last place he wanted to take his daughter.

It was part of the reason, more like the biggest reason, for his radio silence at work about the newest member of his family. He used to wake up screaming in the middle of the night with memories of Gideon playing with his organs like they were made of play-doh. Now, he only had nightmares about one of his _many_ enemies coming after his daughter. He would gladly die before he let anything happen to her, to such innocence.

He ran through any other possible options again and still came up short. _Shit_. He had no choice, she’d have to come with him to work today. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? He would certainly enjoy having her with him all day.

“Charlie?”

“Yes, daddy.” Her legs were swinging under her chair as she ate, a Norman Rockwell painting in the flesh.

“Would you like to come to work with me today?”

“Yay! Yeah! Yeah, yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah.” She had abandoned her breakfast to hold his hand, jumping up and down in her excitement.

He didn’t deserve this, didn’t deserve her. He knew that, but he woke up every morning grateful for his most precious gift.

\------------

“Good morning, Dr. Chil—“ His secretary stopped short when she saw the little girl skipping alongside him. “Who’s this?”

“Hello, Anne, this is my daughter, Charlotte. Say ‘hi,’ sweetheart.”

Even though she was only five, she was already the picture of charm. She stuck her chubby little hand out, “I’m Charlie!”

Anne moved out from behind her desk to squat at eye level in front of Charlotte, “Hi, Charlie. I’m Anne. It’s very nice to meet you.”

When Anne stood back up, there was a burning curiosity in her eyes. Frederick only frowned, leading his daughter into his office. He had brought crayons and coloring pages and books to entertain her, promising to take her to ice cream afterwards if she behaved. He immediately got to work so they wouldn’t have to stay long, the less time she was in this awful place the better.

He hadn’t noticed the quiet, the heavy silence, until it was too late. How on earth had she gotten out? How had he not seen her open the door?

Walking to the door, he stuck his head out, “Anne, do you have Charlie?”

His secretary seemed confused, looking around the small area for her. “No? I thought she was in there with you? I’ll help you look for her, though.”

The longer he searched, the longer he couldn’t find her, the more frantic he was becoming. His thoughts were wild, worried over every single possibility of what could happen to a child in a place like his hospital. Limping up and down the halls, he moved as quickly as his cane would allow, which wasn’t very fast. ‘Another reason to loathe Gideon,’ he thought bitterly.

He heard laughter from a conference room as he clicked by, ignoring the doctors in their meeting. They wouldn’t help him look and he didn’t want to reveal her presence anyway.

“And what are you doing here, Charlie?” The name made him pause, before he ran back to the meeting.

“Charlie?!” There she was, holding court in front of his doctors like the Queen of England. His heart felt like it might burst with sheer relief.

Sinking down onto his knees in front of her, he pulled her in for a tight hug, “Oh, thank god! You had me worried sick!” He felt a couple tears slide down his face as he nuzzled into her hair, thanking whatever god still cared enough about him to spare her.

“I’m sorry, daddy.” She sounded sad, patting his head with her hand like he was the child in the relationship.

“It’s alright, sweetheart, I just got scared when I couldn’t find you.” He stood back up, leaving his cane on the ground so he could hold his daughter in his arms.

“I’m sorry, gentlem—“ Beginning to apologize for the interruption, he stopped short when he noticed their faces. They each wore identical masks of complete surprise, paralyzed in their shock. Likely, they thought he wasn’t even physically capable of hugging another human.

One of them, Dr. Jones, finally broke the suspended moment, clearing his throat, “That’s perfectly alright, Dr. Chilton. Your lovely daughter was just regaling us with a story about a princess who fought a dragon.”

“That’s my daddy’s story! He tells it to me eveeery night! Because he says princesses can fight dragons too!” She widened her arms as if to exaggerate the frequency of his story-telling.

Frederick had lingered long enough in this awkward situation, and he could feel every one of the eleven pairs of eyes that stared at him in disbelief. It was making him self-conscious, well, more so than usual. He attempted to set Charlie back down but she hung on tight, climbing further up his body.

He sighed, wondering how he was going to get all the way back to his office without his cane. There was no possibility he could lean over to retrieve it without risking a fall and hurting Charlie. Taking a few steps towards the door, he decided the pain he would feel tomorrow was well worth the joy of holding his daughter.

“Wait.” He turned back, wondering what subtle, snide remark he was going to receive. Instead, he only found Dr. Anderson standing there, looking uncomfortable but holding his cane out for him.

He felt a rush of gratitude, so unexpected and sharp that it made more tears spring up in his eyes. Coughing to hide the roughness of his voice, he thanked Dr. Anderson before taking back his cane and limping away. He could feel Charlie waving at the doctors over his shoulder and the weight of so many eyes on his back. 

Back in his office, he decided that he had done enough work for one day. And if he were being honest, he was being cowardly. He was desperate to leave the building before the nasty gossip started to spread. ‘Did you hear _Chilton_ has a _daughter?!_ How could someone like _him_ possible take care of another human? He’s too damaged to even take care of himself!’

He knew his daughter loved him, saw evidence of her affection every day. Every time she hugged him, or curled up in his arms, or ran out to greet him as he returned home. But he still didn’t believe in himself. He still had moments of crippling doubt that made him fear he wouldn’t be strong enough to raise his daughter.

Gathering Charlie and her books, he left, thanking Anne for her help as Charlie gave her a goodbye hug. She didn’t even ask, his perfect daughter, but he stopped for ice cream on the way home anyway. And he decided it didn’t matter what whispered words floated around the hospital tomorrow. Because he had Charlie, and she was all he would ever need.

\------------

His worries started to ease though, the next day, when he arrived and there was no negative buzz in the air. And was it his imagination, or had everyone suddenly started to smile at him? 


End file.
